Tuesday, April 15, 2008

You missed the eBay boat, Bob

Bob Geldof
Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty

Call me a fawning capitalist lackey. Brand me a World Bank-loving, anti-poor, rich world boosting, multinational adoring sellout. Go as far as accusing me of being a slightly uneasy bedfellow with the Adam Smith Institute.

But whatever you do, please do explain why Bob Geldof is right to call eBay, the online auction marketplace, "an electronic pimp [that] arrogantly thought they were powerful enough to ignore public anger" when the company allowed its users to sell Live 8 tickets on its site.

And, while you're at it, can someone justify why he's fair in calling those who tried to sell their tickets "miserable wretches who are capitalising on people's misery"?

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